May 5, 2004 MEDIA RELEASE
Victor J. Boone recipient of 2004 Julian T. Pierce Award
(Raleigh, NC) – The Legal Services community in North Carolina has
awarded the 2004 Julian T. Pierce Award to Victor J. Boone, an
attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina in Raleigh.
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2004 Pierce Award recipient Victor Boone (r)
congratulated by Richard M. "Dick" Taylor
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Boone received the award during the biennial 2004 Legal Services Statewide
Conference in Durham on April 27.
He is the seventh recipient since 1994 to have received the Pierce
Award, which honors an outstanding advocate of equal justice in North Carolina.
The presentation was made by Richard M. “Dick” Taylor, CEO of the
NC Academy of Trial Lawyers. Taylor was LSNC’s executive
director at the time of Julian Pierce’s unfortunate death in 1988.
“Victor Boone is an attorney who has a sure and steady hand for
leadership as well as a committed advocate,” said Taylor at the Legal Service
Banquet.
“His leadership is respected by those within and without the justice
community, including bar and community leaders. His successful advocacy has
shown clients that the system that they felt was against them was one that would
work for them.”
Taylor noted that Boone has served his entire 28-year legal career as a legal
services advocate.
He has worked as a legal services staff attorney, managing attorney,
deputy director and program director for East Central Community Legal Services
in Raleigh, and a senior managing attorney for
Legal Aid of North Carolina-Raleigh Office.
Over the years, Boone is well known for his involvements with the NC State
Bar and the NC Bar Association.
He is currently in his second, five-year term as a NC State Bar
councilor from the Tenth Judicial District.
He is a past member of the Board of Governors of the NC Bar Association
(NCBA) , and has served on numerous NCBA committees.
Boone has also been active in committee work with the local Wake Bar
Association, and presently serves as co-chair for the NC Justice Center in
Raleigh.
“Victor Boone has encouraged clients, community groups and private
attorneys to work collaboratively to provide service to clients at all levels,
including direct legal representation,” added Taylor.
“His life long service to the Justice Community needed to be recognized
and honored with this, the most prestigious attorney award from the Legal
Services community in North Carolina.”
A native of Garysburg, NC, Boone earned his JD from NC Central University
School of Law in 1975.
He presently works for Legal Aid of North Carolina (LANC), where he is the regional
manager of LANC’s Triangle Region.
The Legal Services community established the Pierce Award following the death
of Julian Pierce in 1988.
Pierce, a Lumbee Indian, was the first executive director of Lumbee
River Legal Services in the Pembroke, NC area and spent his entire professional
life as an attorney who worked to ensure equal justice for all.
In 1988, Pierce resigned his position to run for a new judgeship, created to
give under-represented North Carolinians more access to justice.
Before the election, he was murdered, and the legal services community lost one
of its best advocates.
The Pierce Award was created in his memory to recognize outstanding
advocacy that ensures equal justice for all and for which Pierce was known.
Legal Aid of North Carolina is a 501(c)3, nonprofit organization that
provides free representation to eligible clients, operating through 25 offices
and four specialized units and serving people in 83 of the 100 counties in North
Carolina.
LANC’s mission is to provide free legal services in civil matters to
low-income people in order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove legal
barriers to economic opportunity.
CONTACTS:
Celia Pistolis (Chair, Julian T. Pierce Award;
Assistant Director, Advocacy & Compliance,
Raleigh, NC)
919-856-2564
George R. Hausen, Jr. (Executive Director,
Legal Aid of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC)
919-856-2564
Dock Kornegay (Director, Public Relations &
Development,Raleigh, NC)
919-856-2564
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purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Please contact your
Legal Aid of North Carolina office or a private attorney if you need to speak to
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Mission Statement
Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that
provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in
order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove legal barriers
to economic opportunity.